Short answer, he needed to get to Fort Meigs ASAP
The War of 1812 was well underway. General Harrison had received intelligence that the number of troops at Fort Meigs (Perrysburg, Oh) had been reduced in size and that the British, seeing an opportunity to seize it, were planning to attack. He needed to assemble and move as many troops as possible to go to their aid. Failure to do would have been a catastrophe.
Thursday, April 8, 1813, the weather was clear and pleasant. The troops at Fort Amanda had been told that General Harrison and his army would be coming to the fort that day on their way to Fort Meigs. After breakfast all the men at the fort were sent across the Auglaize to cut push poles and make oars for maneuvering the boats that would transport them.
Around 1 o'clock that
afternoon General Harrison and his staff arrived at the fort. An hour
later Captain Nathan Hatfield's company of riflemen arrived and at 4 o'clock
Captain Nearing’s detachment of 140 regulars arrived making a total force of
about 300. The men set up camp one-half mile north of the fort in an
area called "the commons."
During the night the weather changed and by morning (April 9, 1813) the sky was cloudy with a light rain that continued throughout the day. Meanwhile Harrison had been awake since 4 o’clock that morning, penning a letter to the governor of Kentucky. In it he basically pleaded for more troops. He originally been given the power to request troops from neighboring states and territories, however that power had been annulled. Desperate Harrison reminded the Governor.
"the critical
situation of our affairs in the country that I am induced to request your
Excellency to take such measures as you may judge most effectual and speedy to
send me a reinforcement of at least fifteen hundred men."
NOTE: A copy of Harrisons entire letter to the Governor is at the end of this blog.
The three hundred men Harrison had with him at were infantry soldiers he had collected from the posts between Cincinnati and Amanda leavcing some of them very vulnerable. So sparce was one garrison, Harrison wrote that it was manned only by a sergeant, 3 soldiers and some friendly Indians.
For the sake of time, Harrison had already sent a squadron of Dragoon Regulars (cavalry) ahead. He requested the governor send mounted militia from his state assuring him that there was enough food for the animals along the way. He suggested the governor send mounted troops ahead of the rest and not delay things waiting for the infantry.
He went on to say that even
if the government disapproved of his decision to go ahead and request troops,
he felt confident that at the end of the day they (the government) would agree
it was a good decision and that all the soldiers involved would feel it was
worth the effort. One thing was for certain, Kentuckians liked to
fight.
Meanwhile Harrisons soldiers, camped at
the Commons, were busy taking down their tents, and packing up their supplies
and taking them down to the rivers edge. A man named Captain Perry oversaw the
operations. Around 11:30 that morning with boats loaded with soldiers and
supplies, the armada started north.
Late to the Party
At
4 o'clock that afternoon, Captain Hamilton, commander at Fort Logan
(Wapakoneta) arrived at Fort Amanda along with sixty more infantry troops and
30 Indians. They had marched ten
miles through rain and mud and did not arrive at Amanda until just as the
General and his staff were leaving. Fifteen Indians from Hamilton’s group went
with the other boats. The boat carrying their baggage for Hamilton's company
had not yet arrived and would not until 7 o’clock, shortly before
sunset.
There was only a half-moon and
cloudy skies that night so by the time Hamilton and his men shoved off
around 8:30 PM. it would have been very dark. Having canoed the
Auglaize after dark, even with moonlite and flashlights, I can tell you it would have been very difficult. .
The Fort Amanda Armada
Question: How Many
and How Large Were the Boats
The number of individuals leaving Fort Amanda by water on April 9th included Harrison's 300 troops along with his personal staff, and Capt. Hamilton's 60 soldiers and 30 Indians from Fort Logan making a grand total of approx. four hundred. The type of boat used would have been the “batteaux” with its pointed bow like the one shown below. With only a 2-foot draft, batteaux were ideal for navigating shallow rivers. A boat the size of the one below could carry fifteen men.
How Many Boats Were Needed?
Using the figure of 15 men per boat, Harrison would have needed at least 25 to 30 boats just to transport his men. Add to that another 2 or 3 boats to transport baggage, supplies, ammunition, food, etc., the total number of boats needed could easily have been 27 to 33.
Regardless of the type final number, it was without a doubt the largest number of watercraft ever to navigate the Auglaize River before or since.
Harrisons original letter to the Governor of Kentucky
“Head Quarters Fort Amanda on
the Auglaize River
9th April 4 o’clock A.M. Altho I have reason to believe that the power
formerly given to me to call upon the Executive of the adjacent states and
Territories for Detachments of Militia is considered by the Secretary of War as
being annulled yet such is my view of the critical situation of our affairs in
the country that I am induced to request your Excellency to take such measures
as you may judge most effectual and speedy to send me a reinforcement of at
least fifteen hundred men. The reason is
scarcely sufficient advanced to afford wild food for horses but as we have a
considerable of forage at some of the advanced posts I must request to dispatch
immediately the Regt. Of Mounted Riflemen commanded by the Honble. R. M.
Johnson or such part of it as may be raised without waiting for the infantry.
Should the government not think proper to authorize the employment of the
latter you will receive notice of it before they have arrived at the General
Rendezvous as I have already written on the subject and I am persuaded that
neither your Excellency nor the officers and men who may be called out will
regret the trouble you will have on this occasion should it even prove
ultimately to produce no advantage. From
the information received yesterday it is very evident that the enemy intended
to attack the post at the Miami Rapids. They have been apprised of the reduced
state of the troops there and calculate upon an easy conquest. I have been obliged to dispatch for its
protection the Squadron of Dragoons and have now with me about 300 men which is
all that I could possibly take the protection of the posts on this line. Indeed
one of them is left to the protection of this line. Indeed one of them is left to the protection
of the Friendly Indians with only a sergeant and 3 men of ours. I shall embark in one hour in a boat and
perogues and calculate on reaching the Rapids tomorrow night. I am informed by the Major Stoddard who
commands at Fort Meigs that the Indians are in force on the Rivers between Fort
Winchester and the former. Without a very considerable addition to my present
force it will be impossible to defend the extensive line of weak posts on the
frontier and maintain that at the Rapids.
The enemy have a single point only to defend, their forces are
concentrated, they command the lake and can take their troops to any point they
think proper to attack with a great facility.
Our movements on the contrary are necessarily laborious and tardy and
not knowing on which of our numerous and vulnerable points the storm is to fall
it is necessary upon every military
principle that our force should be treble theirs; at present it is inferior. I
have the honor to be with great Respect Sir Yr. Obt & Hbl. Servt.” W. H. Harrison